Something There
by LadyCerise1891
Summary: In which Evie's decision to give Ben an Isle of the Lost makeover has unforeseeable consequences. Well, at least for Mal.


She blamed Evie, really. It had been Evie who had dressed him in a shredded t-shirt and leather. She'd been the one to force his kingly feet into distressed combat boots. Like some sort of demented, reverse fairy godmother, she had gone and made him up like a true Isle delinquent.

He'd even learned to strut like a true VK badass.

It had been an image she couldn't have conjured up in even her wildest dreams. For once they had matched on her terms. She'd only been able to turn away from him on the Isle because it was such a stark contrast to the Ben she knew.

After the fiasco that had been Cotillion, and he was no longer under Uma's influence, she'd expected him to return the safety of his diligently tailored suits and well polished oxfords. She had promised not be what she wasn't anymore. Stupidly, she'd thought that would be a two way street.

Not that she hadn't enjoyed seeing him in his odd combination of royal attire and warn leather that night. She had openly devoured him with her eyes more than once. He returned the sentiment, giving her his newly acquired hooded look of longing. She'd been entertained to discover the different little nooks and crannies he had a skill for finding to worship her in.

She snorted at the memory of his love drunk murmurings.

"Lady Mal?" Her eyes rolled at Audrey's strained politeness. "Are you listening?"

"No. My mind was else where." Which was true, but she was not going to divulge where, even as her eyes slid back to the damning image across the court yard. "You were talking about Castlecoming decorations, right?"

Audrey followed her gaze and sniffed in obvious disapproval. "Yes, those pants are rather unseemly. I wonder if he's forgetting that he's still king, even on campus."

Mal had always been very vocal about her attraction to the young king. Ever since he'd taken to assaulting her with his eyes and teasing her by fore going his perfect Auradonian attire it had become hard to keep her flirtations light. The other girls at the school had taken notice as well and in the wake of her more subdued commentary they had begun openly voicing their own admirations of his obvious hotness.

The purple haired girl ignored the accusatory look she could feel Audrey giving her. She did silently agree that he was pushing things. His oxfords had returned for the most part, along with his tailored shirts and jackets. The pants had not.

No matter the occasion, his suits were now equipped with distinctly Isle-esque leather and distressed denim trousers. She was grateful he kept his new, Evie approved, combat boots for casual affairs. When asked, her opinion on the matter was simply indifference.

Her personal, not safe for public consumption, thoughts were, "yum!"

"Yum? You think chartreuse streamers are "yum?" She blinked at Audrey's shriek of disapproval. "Did your showdown with Ulla give you lasting brain damage?"

"Uma."

Audrey gave an unladylike grunt of frustration. "Right. Uma. I should probably write that down. Keeping track of your enemies is confusing."

"Right, speaking of confusing, who suggested chartreuse?" She saw Freddie's neat signature on the slip of paper. "Yeah, no on the chartreuse. Stick with school colours. Seriously, no pink. Castlecoming is for everyone."

The princess huffed as Mal began gathering up her school books. "That's it?"

"That's it." She forced herself to keep her eyes on her task off of Ben's leather clad backside. "You will received no further, or greater help from me."

If the question was put to her, Mal would say the idea she was avoiding Ben was silly. So, she told herself she wasn't. No, Mal was avoiding certain new aspects of Ben that hadn't been imaginable until her runaway breakdown.

"Stupid Evie."

She felt his warm hands on her shoulders. She always knew when it was him. She knew the feel of his hands, the pressure, by heart. She knew when he was near or when he was looking at her. She could even tell, at times, when he was thinking about her.

She was so aware of him, she sometimes worried it would drive her as crazy as her mother.

"I think Evie is rather brilliant." He pressed a kiss into her hair. "Just to appease my curiosity, why do you seem to think she's stupid?"

He squeezed her shoulders playfully before moving away from her and around the table to sit across from her.

"Fine. I don't think she's stupid. I just think she's taken it upon herself to meddle with certain things to be left unnamed, and that's stupid. Her meddling is stupid, not her."

She wondered momentarily why he was overdoing his puppy dog eyes. Then his foot bumped hers. She apologised and moved her's back, but his followed. She squeaked, a sound that nearly broke his innocent act, as the toe of his shoe intentionally teased her ankle. Evie had guilted her into wearing a dress that day, but had allowed the girl a pair old chucks, instead of heals. Mal's trusted combat boots were, mysteriously, missing.

"Your darn ankle obsession."

His face was now graced with a smirk. "They're so tiny, and sensitive." He leaned across the table toward her, voice dropping to a whisper. "Plus, you like it."

She managed to raise a haughty brow in challenge. "Really? I like it?"

He hummed and she shivered as he somehow managed to keep up his agonising task under the table. "What else do I like, then?"

"Strawberries." She huffed in disapproval, but his smirk stayed in place. "When I look at you."

His foot left her ankle, and he leaned over further signalling her to do the same with a curl of his finger. "When I kiss you." Then he did just that and nipped her lower lip before continuing, "my beastly side."

She smiled happily and tried to kiss him, again, but he leaned back. "You like it when I tease you."

She scowled at the sudden shift in their flirtation. "Quite the list you have there. Anything else?"

"Yeah." He reached under the table, taking her by surprise as he lifted her leg up to rest on his thigh. "You like the leather. Sure, you try to hide it. The thing of it is, though, I can feel you. Every time you see me in something not quite Auradon, you can't look away. You eat it up."

How could she not? It was like every dark desire she'd never known she had, and she had know idea what she'd done to earn them coming to life. He was now the literal figment of her most guarded fantasies and she was forced to behave.

"Do you know what I hate?" It was his turn to be disgruntled as he chuck clad foot began its own journey up his thigh. "I hate that I have to share you. Do you know how frustrating it is that I have to let other people see you?"

His eyes closed in relief when she removed her foot from his lap. She only afforded him a minor reprieve, and she delighted in watching his brow furrow. She'd taken a moment to toe off her shoe and then returned to her task of tormenting him. His hand disappeared, again, and she felt it grasp her ankle.

"Do you know what I wanna do?"

"Lock me in a dungeon and keep me all to yourself." She smirked and tried to inch her foot higher, but he held it where it was. "Mine is my study. At school."

She sighed at the image his confession had conjured up, adding to her already endless list of scenarios. His eyes shot open, dark with what she'd come to understand was desire. Her mouth popped open in mock surprise as he growled.

"Your study? You don't say." She looked around, as if just realising where they were. "Oh, and look at where we are. School."

He released her foot and stood up so quickly his chair fell over. "Put your shoe on." She laughed when he contradicted the command by ducking under their table and picking it up. "Never mind. No time. Gather your things."

She continued chuckling, already to the task. He tossed the warn chuck into her bag and then threw that over his shoulder. She was in full hysterics when he unceremoniously pulled her into his arms.

"Laugh it up, you wicked fairy." She snickered at the scandalised cries of the students and faculty they passed. "You won't be laughing for long."

She was pleased to find out he was right.


End file.
